


Downpour

by ZephyrOnTheWind



Series: Hanahaki [3]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-19 13:57:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22711903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZephyrOnTheWind/pseuds/ZephyrOnTheWind
Summary: Forgotten, unrequited love
Relationships: Apprentice/Asra (The Arcana)
Series: Hanahaki [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1163345
Kudos: 12





	Downpour

Muriel's always had a scratch at the back of his throat, ever since he met Asra. He's never thought much of it, fine enough with how things were. It never got better, but it never got any worse.

~~~

The first time he coughed was a Masquerade night.

~~~

He considered himself lucky, that the petals stopped when Asra's friend died. That the petals stopped before they turned bloody. Before they turned into buds. He could barely stand fighting in the Coliseum. If he had been coughing up petals at the same time, it only would have made it worse. At least clearing his throat sounded like growls, and that was what was expected of him.

~~~

The petals came back on a Masquerade night.

~~~

They were few and far between, as Asra tended to his friend. Mostly a scratch, sometimes a cough, never petals for more than one night. Never more than a handful. Never more than could be shoved under a fur when Asra rushed his door with a limp body in his arms. It never got better.

~~~

It was announced there would be another Masquerade night.

~~~

For all Asra boasted of knowing him so well, Muriel hid the coughing from him. He never heard the fits of wheezing, gasping breaths, or saw the bloody petals and buds that would scatter across his hut. It didn't even take that much to hide it, no matter how much louder and bloodier Muriel's coughs became. Roots curled and fluttered in his lungs whenever Asra stopped by to ask for help, but he never noticed. It was easy to not notice.

~~~

He never knew.

~~~

Asra stopped asking for help. A pouch of myrrh was added back to Muriel's shelf. A flower, roots and all, was composted next to his hut.

The scratching stopped.


End file.
